EPIGENomics and Health Care Policy: Challenges and Opportunities

INTRODUCTION

The rise of epigenomics has been exponential over the last decade, in terms of scientific breakthroughs and technological advances as well as in the public salience of its discourse. Its impact is particularly promising in biomedicine, where epigenomic signatures are expected to bridge the gap between human genetic variation and clinical phenotypes, with possibly paradigm-shifting implications for disease classification, prognostic stratifications and therapeutic regimens. Developments are no less momentous when it comes to preventive, occupational and environmental studies, where the possibility to digitize exposures and standardize them in terms of epigenomic readouts is expected to have far reaching impacts. Unsurprisingly, the investigation of the ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI) of epigenomics has also started to advance, beginning to highlight commonalities and differences vis à vis the previous two decades of genome-centered focus.

The time is thus ripe to assess the impact of these advances in the context of health care delivery and policy, for whose analysis this meeting will provide a timely first opportunity at the international level. The aim is to bring together leading epigenomics scientists with policy makers, clinician representatives, patient organizations and ELSI scholars in order to define the critical challenges and opportunities ahead of us in the translation of epigenomic science into healthcare practice, both at the national and transnational levels.

ORGANIZERS

Giuseppe Testa – European Institute of Oncology, Milan
Luca Chiapperino – European Institute of Oncology, Milan
Maria Damjanovicova – European Institute of Oncology, Milan

SPEAKERS

Genevieve Almouzni – Institut Curie, Paris
Bruno Amati – Italian Institute of Technology, Milan
Ruth Chadwick – Cardiff University, Cardiff
Davide Gabellini – San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan
Alex Gutteridge – Neusentis Cambridge
Nils Hoppe – University of Hannover, Hannover
Yann Joly – McGill University, Montreal
Hannah Landecker – University of California, Los Angeles
Giuseppe Macino – Sapienza University of Rome, Rome
Maurizio Meloni – Princeton and University of Sheffield
Karin Michels – Harvard University, Boston
Saverio Minucci – IEO, Milan
Gioacchino Natoli – IEO, Milan
Udo Oppermann – University of Oxford, Oxford
Massimiliano Pagani – Foundation INGM, Milan
Barbara Prainsack – King’s College, London
Silvia Stringhini – Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne
Henk Stunnenberg – University of Nijmegen, Nijmegen
Jörn Walter – Saarland University, Saarbrücken

The number of participants is limited to 185